The Lieutenant's Reckoning
Turning the clock back a little, to not long ago.
Tracking down Yeo Juhwan's whereabouts wasn't particularly difficult for Lim Dojun.
"You want to know what former Lieutenant Colonel Yeo Juhwan is up to? I know."
When he contacted Park Daecheol of Happy Service after a long time and asked, the man answered immediately without even needing to look it up.
"He retired right after you did, Hyung-nim. He jumped straight into the black market."
There had been rumors even back when he was still in the military—that Yeo Juhwan was secretly siphoning off military supplies for his own profit. Since Yeo Juhwan wasn't exactly known for his good character, Dojun had dismissed it as idle gossip at the time. Apparently, it had been true.
"He's got his fingers in a lot of pies, so I know a few locations. Want me to send them over?"
"Please."
"Aigoo, no need for 'please' between us. I'll send the addresses right away. Ah, by the way—thanks to you, Hyung-nim, our agency has grown tremendously, haha. I'll have to treat you to something big next time I see you."
Dojun had left the cleanup of the organization he'd eliminated last time to them, and apparently Happy Service had expanded considerably on the back of that job.
From that point on, things became simple.
—Boom!
"W-who's there!?"
"Alone…? This bastard doesn't even know where he is!"
He raided the broker's office and military supply storage warehouses Park Daecheol had told him about. There was no one in places like that who could possibly stand against Lim Dojun, who had mastered both soul magic and high-level spells.
He took them all down in an instant and asked what he needed to know. Even though Yeo Juhwan had been careful about security, the underlings didn't know the boss's location or the coordinates of the main warehouse. It didn't matter.
Erasing their memories with the Forgetfulness Seal and destroying the CCTV footage achieved perfect evidence elimination. After hitting several locations in quick succession, he was able to reach the warehouse where Yeo Juhwan was without being detected.
'It really is reliable, considering it came from the Ghost Temple.'
The Forgetfulness Seal—a stamp capable of erasing the memories and perceptions of those far weaker than the user. Though it was activated through sorcery, Dojun could use it sufficiently with soul magic. Activating it required almost no effort.
The scenes were a bit messy, but with no evidence left behind and no deaths, the Awakened Crime Investigation Bureau wouldn't bother pursuing the cases. With how much work they already had, why would they investigate incidents with zero fatalities?
It was essentially the perfect crime.
* * *
"Ughhh…"
"Krrgh…"
The interior of the large warehouse was in complete disarray. The ice bullets Dojun had fired had turned the entire space into a honeycomb. The modern weapons they had prepared were useless. Any Awakened or Returnee above a certain level would be like this—unless they were caught completely off guard.
"Yeo Juhwan."
Dojun looked down at Yeo Juhwan, who lay collapsed like the others, riddled with holes. He hadn't killed him outright because he still had questions.
"This can't be the end. If you're hiding something, spit it out now."
Dojun knew Yeo Juhwan's cunning nature well—especially how obsessively he protected himself. Someone like that wouldn't run such a large-scale illegal operation with only ordinary subordinates. He might have natural Awakened or even Returnees under his command. That would be his hidden trump card.
"Krrgh…"
But for Yeo Juhwan, it was pure agony. Just as Dojun had suspected, he did have a hidden card—a Returnee serving as his bodyguard. And that Returnee was now lying beside him, bleeding from several wind holes in his body.
'I heard he was a pretty mediocre Returnee, but he went down just like an ordinary person?'
He hadn't demonstrated any power worth mentioning against the intruder. Of course, a high-and-mighty Returnee wouldn't stoop to being a personal bodyguard for a black-market boss. Maybe if it were a major organization like the Triads, Yakuza, or Mafia. The fact that Yeo Juhwan had even managed to hire a Returnee for peddling a few stolen goods was surprising in itself. Still, he should have at least put up some kind of fight.
"…So your hidden card is already gone."
Reading the wavering in Yeo Juhwan's eyes, Dojun understood the situation. It was absurd. Yeo Juhwan's mana reserves were so low that even Dojun had missed the fact that he was a Returnee—a Returnee so weak that even the Returnee Union wouldn't accept him. One who had been given a chance, fallen into another world, but returned without gaining any real power after barely lasting. The number of Returnees weaker than natural Awakened was by no means small.
"Yeo Juhwan. I have a question."
Dojun created a disk of ice beneath his feet. An ice tree rose from the floor, bringing him face-to-face with Yeo Juhwan. The fluttering robe, the mask, the chill radiating from him made Yeo Juhwan instinctively lower his gaze. Then Dojun removed his mask.
"You still don't recognize my voice? We worked together for quite a while."
"!?"
Yeo Juhwan was confused at first. The person that came to mind couldn't possibly be standing here now. But there was a limit to denying reality.
"L-Lim Dojun…?"
"That's right. It's me."
"How… how are you here…? A cripple like you…?"
He muttered in disbelief. When he'd heard that the man had become a vegetable and was holed up at home, he'd thought that while the dishonorable discharge was unfortunate, it wasn't such a bad outcome after all. He hadn't achieved his dream of wearing a star, but hearing that the annoying bastard had become disabled had felt satisfying. And now? Not only had he recovered, but he was standing before him with overwhelming power?
"The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because I have questions."
Dojun looked down at Yeo Juhwan.
"Why didn't you tell the truth back then? Why did you treat my life and my teammates' lives so lightly and throw us into danger?"
If Yeo Juhwan had warned them about the Crystal Dragon in advance, the outcome might have been different. As natural Awakened who relied on artifacts, strategy and tactics were crucial for them. Their raw power output was weaker than Returnees', but their excellent teamwork and tactics had allowed them to succeed in difficult missions one after another. If only he'd said something, maybe a few more of them could have survived until the Crystal Dragon was reverse-summoned.
"Hah…! You son of a bitch!"
Instead, Yeo Juhwan flew into a rage, turning the tables.
"What? Why didn't I tell you? Because you would've ignored me again! I've always hated that look in your eyes! That look like you can do anything and don't give a damn about your superiors! If you get promoted without seniority, you should at least know how to read the room. Don't you know how the world works?"
The inferiority complex he had been harboring all this time exploded.
"And that's why I got discharged too. If you were so damn capable, you should've stopped the Crystal Dragon properly! Because you couldn't do your job right, the city got destroyed, the team died, and because of you, I got a dishonorable discharge! If you were going to die, you should've died alone!"
"You're hopeless."
Dojun extended his hand. Ice grew from his palm, gradually taking the shape of a sword. He drove it into Yeo Juhwan.
—Thud!
"Kuhk…"
—Thud! Thud! Thud!
He pulled it out and stabbed again, then again. Mechanical repetition. Yet each motion carried the resentment of his comrades he had seen at the National Cemetery. If the man had sincerely apologized or shown remorse, things might have been different. But Yeo Juhwan was not that kind of person.
"Don't worry. You won't die easily."
Every time the sword pierced him, Yeo Juhwan writhed in pain, but it wasn't enough to kill him. The ice sword rapidly froze the stabbed area, so no blood flowed from the wounds—instead, it kept him alive. For Yeo Juhwan, it was hell.
After continuing this for a while, Dojun asked again.
"Then let me ask something else. The one who conducted the otherworld monster summoning experiment was the Ghost Temple, along with one high-ranking government official and one high-ranking military official. Who was the government official?"
"Krrgh…"
"You don't have to answer, but the longer you stay silent, the more the pain will continue."
"G-Gang Taebeom!"
"Deputy Minister Gang Taebeom of the Ministry of National Defense?"
"Y-yes! So please… Aaaagh!"
A rather significant figure was involved. Dojun nodded and continued stabbing with the sword as he asked.
"Then one more thing. Who started this entire plan in the first place? The Ghost Temple, the government, you—you were all following someone's orders, weren't you?"
"T-that's, that's…"
Just as Yeo Juhwan was about to speak, his eyes suddenly rolled back and his body began to convulse violently.
"Uhhhhh—"
As he let out an incomprehensible sound and spasmed, the Chinese character (meaning slave) appeared on his forehead like a tattoo.
The Slave Seal.
The moment it manifested, a voice like metal scraping against metal flowed from Yeo Juhwan's mouth.
······
Dojun frowned. An ominous energy streamed from the tattoo on Yeo Juhwan's forehead.
—Ziiing!
A pure white light burst from Yeo Juhwan's eyes and shot toward Dojun. Dojun immediately recognized it as a powerful sorcery related to the mental domain—a technique that directly invaded the target's mind to seize their soul. The caster seemed quite confident in the fields of sorcery and souls. It made sense. They weren't even present in person, yet they were launching such a potent spell through another person as a medium.
Judging by its power, even a decent mage would have struggled to withstand it. But Dojun merely smirked. It was impressive, but they had chosen the wrong target. If it had been a physically powerful ability, maybe—but against mental-type powers, Dojun could never lose.
After all, the will of the Crystal Dragon resided within him. A being that would run rampant the moment the reins were loosened. He gave those reins the slightest, weakest tug.
A psychic scream rang out, and moments later, the voice abruptly cut off.